Self-sufficiency, at least in agriculture and the food industry, is not a mirage

Even if the conflict in Ukraine were to end now, the consequences of two years of extraordinary circumstances would not miraculously heal. Demand will not fall, prices will not deflate, supply chains will not be reassembled, and raw materials will not be served on a platter. However, the breaking of the spine of the global economy has brought to the forefront in Croatia a favorite topic  – questioning the capacity for self-sufficiency. No matter how absurd it may seem to connect self-sufficiency with the size of the Croatian roll, the topic is not meaningless, especially since living in a state of emergency has revealed the severe vulnerability of at least three sectors – agriculture, energy, and metals.

Thus, the weak points of the EU are similarly written, so it is not surprising that it is quite a popular sport there as well. However, no matter how incapable EU leaders may seem (except when they need to quickly nudge Pfizer via SMS), this issue has been discussed for years, not just now when everything has fallen apart.

Namely, business consultant Nikola Nikšić participated in the first ICMCI (International Council of Management Consulting Institutes) conference back in 2013, at a time when the EU was dealing with the consequences of the financial crisis. The topic: assessing the possibilities and potential for connecting the economies of the West and the East. He says it was not difficult to identify resource potentials that could be relatively easily utilized in accordance with such a transformation of the global economy to the extent that they become significant comparative advantages, as well as the foundation of security for a small economy like Croatia. Thus, self-sufficiency through comparative advantages. Although most analysts assure us that this thesis exists only in Samuelson’s textbook material. Nikšić disagrees, moreover, he believes that self-sufficiency, at least in agriculture and the food industry, is not a mirage.

Zvjezdana Blažić, an agricultural consultant, thinks that we cannot be self-sufficient in all agricultural products, but we can be in the production of both crop and livestock products, fruits and vegetables, as well as olives and grapes. The most significant crop, corn, achieves a rate greater than 150 percent, and wheat in some years even 160 percent. The results for oilseeds are even better, with self-sufficiency rising above 300 percent, and for soybeans in some years nearly 600 percent. However, already in the first stage of processing, it is evident that our value chains in production from oilseeds to oil production are disconnected and that we do not achieve the necessary added value. Thus, in 2019, we recorded self-sufficiency in sunflower production at 284 percent, and in sunflower oil production at 32 percent.

Where else could we be self-sufficient, discover in the new printed and digital issue of Lider.